Javascript is disabled by your browser. Some features of this Web site (e.g. Navigation menus, Text zoom, Hi-Contrast View, Quick Search, Random Imagery) will be impaired because of this. To navigate this Web site, please use the sitemap link on the top right corner of this page or the search facility on the left navigation bar. Alternatively, you could consider enabling javascript within your browser's settings.

Extra-territorial violence: interrogating the role of drone strikes in contemporary western geopolitics

Biography

I commenced my university studies in 2004 undertaking a Bachelor of Arts, specialising in Geography and Legal Science for my degree. My Final year Geography dissertation (BA) "Electoral Geographies of County Westmeath", involved engaging with the political geography of my native county Westmeath, in the form of exploring the factors which influenced electoral choice across the county. In 2008 I embarked upon a one year LLB during which I explored an interrelated theme namely "E-Voting and the Law", which engaged with the legal underpinnings for the potential introduction of E-voting machines for use in elections and referendums across Ireland. The knowledge acquired throughout my BA & LLB experiences instilled the requisite skills of a critical social scientist, and an ability to be analytical in regards to the range of research been conducted both within a university setting and in the field. After a number of years in the workforce I returned to university in 2011, undertaking an MA in Environment, Society and Development, MA provided an opportunity to hone the knowledge and skills which had been garnered at an undergraduate level and engage more intimately with issues in contemporary critical human geography ranging from environmental security, development and geopolitics. My MA thesis entitled "Performing the Call of Duty-Uncovering the Popular Geopolitics of the First Person Shooter Genre" engaged with many of the current debates taking place in the realm of popular geopolitical thought, specifically how video games such as those of the first person shooter (FPS) genre are contributing to a familiarity with geopolitical violence of the 21st century.

Research Description:

This project aims to offer a critical geopolitical account of the role of drone strikes in shaping the evolution of late modern warfare. A key focus of this study will centre upon the notion that the whole world can now be considered a "battlespace", within wider assemblage of military interventions and counter-terrorism activities. Key to this assumption will be interrogating how drone strikes now form a key part of this assemblage, acting as instruments of geopolitical "grand strategy" in the shape of targeted assassinations strikes. The legality of drone strikes under the tents of laws the govern conflicts will also be engaged with, to uncover whether all space, can now be classified as places of legal exception. A central objective of this project therefore, is to adopt a truly interdisciplinary approach to the geopolitical, legal and biopolitical rationale upon which drone strikes are carried out. By embracing an analysis of the discourse which underpins drone strikes, coupled with feminist theoretical considerations, an approach which connects policy to the realities on the ground will be formulated. Building upon previous scholarship in the area, this study aims to shed light on the "grey area" between civilian and combatant fatalities from drone strikes, and crucially the everyday real life consequences for the people who subject to death by remote control.